Its capital Melbourne is a sporting Mecca of tennis and cricket, and there is a rugby league team – the Storm – but they almost never fill their stadium, despite national titles.
So when double Rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams made his way out to Court 6 at the Australian Open on Monday lunchtime, no one took much notice of him.
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Read More“I have known Sonny ever since I was a kid. We are really close, family friends. I just wanted him to come down,” McCabe explained.
“His words of wisdom and everything is just… I’m very lucky.”
McCabe celebrates after beating Spain’s Martin Landaluce 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 (Photo: Getty)
When Landaluce went off court for an elongated toilet break after losing the first two sets, a typical spoiling tactic from a player down in a match, McCabe wandered over to his corner. Something similar had happened in Adelaide when Benjamin Bonzi went off court and left McCabe out on court, worrying about the deciding set. He stayed in his chair, tightened up and lost.
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Read More“They were just giving me advice, because I think it was Bonzi in Adelaide, and I made a bit of… not a mistake but like inexperience,” McCabe added. “It was just learning from what I did in the past, and not sitting down in the chair for five or ten minutes. Getting up, walking around. There’s pressure. It’s a good stepping stone. I’m just grateful I got through today.”
He started his fighting career unbeaten in nine bouts before losing the national title to fellow Kiwi Mark Hunt and retiring from the sport.
Williams won two Rugby World Cups with New Zealand… (Photo: Getty)… and was a star of rugby league, winning NRL Premierships with the Sydney Roosters (pictured) and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Photo: Getty)Williams took up boxing after rugby, winning New Zealand’s national heavyweight title (Photo: Getty)
McCabe is a kindred spirit. He grew up in a Sydney apartment complex with a swimming pool and a tennis court, learning to swim and play from an early age. By two he could rally with his Irish father Patrick, and it became clear he was a child prodigy in multiple areas. He became a national age group swimming champion, a Grade 6 pianist and later a master flautist too.
“Childhood was quite tough!” McCabe said. “But I got through it, and I think it definitely builds character and builds strength. I was a kid. I’m not saying I’m much older now. I didn’t know anything else. I didn’t know what anyone else was doing. That was my life.”
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